Inching Along

Well, after what felt like a long dry spell with no movement for folks on "the list", we have had some joyous reports of referrals this week! YEAH! It's so wonderful to see children being matched with families! So, now we sit at #43.

We've gotten at bit more clarity on why the process has gotten longer. (This is what we've pieced together, so it's not "official", but more our musings...) It seems as though there used to be 4 U.S. adoption agencies licensed to do adoptions in Ethiopia. Recently, Ethiopia opened up their system and allowed other agencies to apply for licenses. I read somewhere that there are now 60 agencies licensed. Now, whether that number is correct or not, we do know that there are lots more agencies doing Ethiopian adoptions, and so there are lots more people trying to get their paperwork through court. I imagine it as the court's time being divided up between 4 agencies vs. being divided up between lots of agencies. Each agency would get a lot less paperwork through in a month, meaning fewer kids could be matched and placed each month. This is at least our guess as to what's happened.

It's good to know that God is in control, or this process could be quite maddening!